News 

Newsletter - November 2020

President's Views

Pramod Goyal

Indian Diaspora – India's Brand Ambassadors

The Indian Diaspora may have voted with their feet to emigrate out of India. But their influence is increasing both in their motherland and their homeland. Thanks to their educational and economic status and their social and political mobility, the Indian Diaspora is today a powerful influence in their motherland and their homeland.

They influence India’s economy directly through their remittances and investments. Diaspora finance in the form of remittance and investment helped India to come out from its foreign reserve crisis and fueled its economic growth. India has overtaken China in terms of receiving foreign remittance recently.

The Indian Diaspora gave true meaning to the Sanskrit aphorism ’Vasudaiva Kutumbatam’ – the entire world is one family – by remaining faithful to their matrubhoomi and their karmabhoomi.

The approximately 20 million diverse Indian Diaspora has enriched their profile through skills and inspiration from their civilizational values. Though they are heterogeneous, drawn from different historical and cultural contexts of migration, they retain their Indian identity and a deep cultural and emotional bond towards India.

Indian Diaspora imbibes as well as imparts values – taking in the best their new home has to offer and giving back the best from India. It is little wonder, then, that in most parts of the world, the Indian Diaspora is considered an ideal community.

Read more: President's Views

Happy Diwali

Let's make this Diwali joyous and bright

Let's celebrate in true sense this festival of light

Programs & Events

Cleantech Mission to India - 2021

25 - 26 February 2021

Download

Flyer

Application Form

If you are interested in participating in this no-cost virtual mission, please contact Mayank (mbhatt@iccconline.org)

Mission organizers

Funding Partner

Upcoming Webinars

Skills Development & Entrepreneurship

Keynote address

Hon. Mahendra Nath Pandey

India's Minister of Skills Development & Entrepreneurship

Details to be announced

Past webinars

Real estate investment opportunities in India

29 October

Small Business Week 2020

26 October

Covid19's Impact on Canada's Immigration

22 October

In the News

Ontario Budget 2020

Provisions aimed at assisting small businesses

Minister Prabhmeet Singh Sarkaria as the Ontario's Minister of Small Business, on behalf of Ontario’s Small Business community, has worked closely with Minster Rod Phillips and his team to focus efforts on the things that matter most to small business. In particular, the following initiatives are aimed particularly at assisting small businesses in Ontario through the new budget’s provisions.

A New Electricity Plan for Growth & Job Creation

The 2020 Budget outlines our plan to reduce the burden on employers of the high-cost energy contracts signed by the previous Liberal Governments with non-hydro renewable energy producers. Starting January 1, 2021, roughly 85% of these high cost wind, solar and bioenergy contracts will be funded by the Province, not business ratepayers. Removing these costs from electricity bills will result in medium size (Class B) and larger industrial and commercial employers (Class A) saving about 14% and 16% respectively, on average, on their electricity bills. The Ontario Electricity Rebate will continue to protect households, farms and small businesses, including main street restaurants and retail shops.

A New Property Tax Plan for Employers

The 2020 Budget outlines our plan to reduce the burden on employers of varying business property taxes. To address this inequity, the Province will lower the significant Business Education Tax (BET) component of property bills to 0.88%. This will benefit over 200,000 business properties or 94% of all business properties in Ontario, providing an annual savings of $450M beginning in 2021.

A New Property Tax Plan for Small Businesses

The 2020 Budget will enable municipalities to partner with the province to reduce the burden on small businesses of business property taxes, by allowing municipalities to create a reduced small business property tax subclass. For all municipalities that agree to create a lower small business property tax subclass, the province will consider matching these municipal property tax reductions in order to provide further support for small businesses. Total municipal and provincial property tax relief for small businesses could total $385M by 2022-23.

With both property tax reductions, a small bakery shop in Toronto with an assessment value of $1.5M could save $10,500 in property taxes annually.

A New Employer Health Tax Plan for Small Business Employers

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in March our government expanded our exemption from the Employer Health Tax (EHT) for 2020 from $490,000 to $1 million. In the 2020 Budget we are making this change permanent. This change will permanently reduce the EHT on a restaurant with $700,000 in payroll from $4,095 to 0, and would reduce the EHT on a Building Contractor with a payroll of $1.5 million from $19,695 to $9,750.

Ensuring Business Property Tax Assessments are based on permitted land use not speculative land uses – in the 2020 Budget to ensure the government is well-positioned to respond to input and any necessary amendments to the Assessment Act, the government is proposing the creation of optional new assessment tools to address concerns regarding assessments on permitted land use versus speculative land use.

Read more: In the News

Insight

How Canadian entrepreneurs are adapting
to the pandemic

Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) published a study on the impact of the Covid19 pandemic on Canadian entrepreneurs and how they are coping with the economic uncertainties

As we all know, the world changed dramatically in spring 2020. Operating in an enviable economic environment before that date, businesses and consumers alike have been impacted by the lockdown. The global health crisis has led to one of the largest economic crises in history. Fortunately, governments have implemented exceptional measures to help citizens and businesses maintain and relaunch their activities. We are currently on the road to a slow recovery.

In this new business environment, many Canadian entrepreneurs are showing ingenuity in adapting to post crisis challenges. This report outlines the five priorities that small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders across the country intend to pursue over the next few years. The purpose of the report is to inspire all entrepreneurs and help them put their businesses back on track to prosperity. This report also demonstrates that there are opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

While the situation remains uncertain, it is important to remember that all crises ultimately pass. It is therefore essential that Canadian entrepreneurs position themselves now to take advantage of current and future business opportunities.

Read more: Insight

From risk to resilience

An equity approach to Covid-19

Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada's Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2020

Read more: An equity approach

Notice

As a result of an internal decision by RBC Insurance and Aviva General Insurance to discontinue group insurance, the ICCC's Affinity Partnership with RBC Insurance for Home and Auto Insurance will be concluding in November 2020.

The discount offered to ICCC members for new policy will not be available from 15 November 2020. For ICCC members who have already availed of the discount, the cancellation date will be 21 January 2021.

ICCC members are still able to obtain the discount up until 15 November and those policies renewing before 21 January 2021 – will continue to obtain the Group Home & Discount until their next year renewal.

Ontario – Uttar Pradesh to collaborate on
trade and investment promotion

ICCC-PHDCCI virtual conference features
Ministers Vic Fedeli and Sidharth Nath Singh

Ontario and Uttar Pradesh have agreed to collaborate on promoting trade and investments between the most populous Canadian province and the most populous Indian state.

During an interaction at a virtual conference organised by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) and the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI) on 15 October, both Hon. Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister and Hon. Sidharth Nath Singh, Uttar Pradesh’s Minister emphasized the urgency of such a collaboration initiative.

In his address, Minister Fedeli, who is responsible for Economic Development, Job Creation and International Trade in Ontario, said that India is a special focus for Ontario and the provincial government is aiming to enhance bilateral trade between the province and India.

He said, under Premier Doug Ford’s leadership, Ontario has emerged as an economic powerhouse. Merchandise trade between Ontario and India is worth C$3.2 billion, accounting for over one-third of total Canada – India trade, and 9% of Canadian exports to India are from Ontario. More than 50 Indian companies across all sectors have operations and investments in Ontario.

Minister Singh, who is responsible for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise, Export Promotion and Khadi and Village Industries in Uttar Pradesh, said amid the global Covid-19 headwinds facing the commercial and industrial sectors, the state government cleared a new investment policy aimed at providing a fillip to industries; this policy positions UP favourably before prospective global investors planning to shift their manufacturing bases.

It has also helped the state occupy the second position on the scale of ease of doing business among Indian states. Additionally, the UP government is developing big-ticket infrastructure projects such as the Jewar International Airport, the proposed film city and financial hub, defence and aerospace, MRO hub for aircraft maintenance, and developing parks in electronic, agro, pharma and medical.

In his Presidential address, Pramod Goyal, President, Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, said Canada and India are rediscovering each other as trade partners all over again. In recent months, there have been many high-powered meetings between Canadian and Indian ministers. However, what is significant is that these meetings are leading to a systemic shift on the ground level in terms of trade between our economies.

He said that the ICCC would continue to play a pivotal role in fostering bilateral trade ties. While devising strategies to promote bilateral trade in a post-Covid19 era, our Chamber planned three distinct thrust areas:

• 1.      Connect Canadian and Indian federal Ministers to kickstart a dialog to enhance variety, volume and velocity of trade by 2025.
• 2.      Connect Canadian provinces with Indian states to provide depth, meaning and direction to bilateral trade relations
• 3.      Connect small business in Canada and India to enable them to mutually explore collaborations

“Last month, we brought Canada’s Minister Mary Ng, and India’s Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, and next month, next month we are collaborating with the SME Chamber of India to connect five Canadian and Indian small businesses. Today, we have joined hands with our partner PHD Chamber to bring Ontario and Uttar Pradesh together,” Mr. Goyal said.

Speaking on the occasion, Apoorva Srivastava, Consul General of India in Toronto, said that trade and investment linkages are an integral part of the multi-faceted relationship between India and Canada, and India-Canada bilateral ties are driven by shared democratic values and many common interests. She said India offers political stability, investment and business-friendly policies, skilled talent pool. These inherent strengths of the Indian economy have resulted in Canadian Pension and Investment funds investing over $60 billion into Indian portfolios.

Hon. Nina Tangri, Ontario’s Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and International Trade, said, the province continues to be the mainstay of traditional industrial sectors such as automotive and aerospace. “While our traditional industries are evolving to meet contemporary demands, Ontario is also a place where the new economy has emerged in force.”

She said there are few places in the world more diverse than Ontario, and the province has people from over 150 countries, and over 200 languages are spoken across the province. In fact, Ontario is one of the most popular hubs for global talent in all of Canada, attracting almost 45 percent of all new immigrants.

Among those who spoke at the virtual conference included Dr. Aditya Jha, Indo-Canadian serial entrepreneur; Pradeep Multani, Senior Vice President, PHDCCI; Satish Srivastava, CMD, Nilansh Group; and Shri Lal Gupta, MD - BNSR Industries Ltd.

Read on Weekly Voice website: https://www.weeklyvoice.com/iccc-hosts-ontario-uttar-pradesh-conference/

President's Views

Pramod Goyal

Trade, Diversity & Inclusion

This month, I discuss new action on the bilateral trade front and the issue of diversity and inclusion as applicable to addressing the representational gap of women, racialized and black people on boards and senior management positions.

Trade

The sudden spurt in bilateral exchanges is a clear indication, Canada and India are committed to meaningfully engage and take their trade ties on to higher trajectory. As per some estimates, trade and Canadian portfolio investments have crossed $80billion, and Indian diplomats say that it has the potential to reach $100 billion, given the right push.

Diversity & Inclusion

I had the privilege of participating in a roundtable discussion initiated by Minister Navdeep Bains’s Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Industry on enhancing diversity and inclusion on company boards and senior management. Termed the 50/30 challenge, the initiative seeks to enhance the presence of under-represented gender and ethnicities on corporate and public boards and senior management levels.

Read more: President's Views

Programs & Events

Ontario-Uttar Pradesh Trade & Investment Collaboration Initiative

Dialogue between

Hon Vic Fedeli
Ontario's Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

&

Hon. Sidharth Nath Singh
Uttar Pradesh's Minister of MSME, Export Promotion
& Khadi and Village Industries

Followed by a panel discussion, featuring

From Canada

Hon. Nina Tangri, Ontario's Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade

Dr. Aditya Jha, Indo-Canadian Serial Entrepreneur, Industrialist, Investor

From India

Satish Srivastava, CMD - Nilansh Group

Shri Lal Gupta, MD - BNSR group company

Jatin Verma, Director, JSV Motors & Construction Pvt. Ltd.

Register here: ON-UP Collaboration

Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women's Virtual Gala

Support  Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women

In the News

Making Ontario Better for People & Smarter for Business

Reducing Regulatory Burdens to Support Economic Recovery & Growth

The Ontario government continues to deliver on its commitment to remove regulatory roadblocks, cut red tape and support job creation with the introduction of the Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2020. The legislation is part of the province’s made-in-Ontario plan for growth, renewal and economic recovery.

The bill was introduced in the Legislature on 6 October by Prabmeet Sarkaria, Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. If passed, the act will strengthen Ontario’s economic recovery, support businesses on the ground, and help government deliver clear and effective rules that promote public health and safeguard the environment without sacrificing innovation, growth and opportunity.

Read more: In the News

Insight

What India Eats?

Joint endeavour of
Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition

Diet plays a crucial role in determining the health and nutritional status of the population. The dietary diversity of a food plate is determined by several factors such as personal factors and environmental factors. Keeping this in view, an attempt has been made to understand (i) region wise food groups consumption and macronutrient intake (ii) contribution of different food groups to energy, protein, fat and carbohydrates (iii) proportion of population consuming energy obtained from various food groups as per ICMR- NIN “My Plate for the Day” recommendations (iv) region-wise variations in the prevalence of obesity and hypertension (HTN) and diabetes (T2D).

Region wise information on dietary consumption in terms of food groups is essential for developing an appropriate region specific food based strategies for tackling the triple burden of malnutrition in India with diverse cultural and food behaviour practices. Also, it would help in evolving inter-ministerial convergence related to production, processing, distribution, availability etc., for ensuring food and nutrition security to achieve ’zero hunger' by 2030.

Read more: Insight

Money Talk

Rakesh Vijay

Avoid the Five Mistakes Investors Make in Tough Markets

• Setting unrealistic investment objectives
• Buying high and selling low
• Acting on tips and hunches
• Putting all your eggs in one basket
• Ignoring tax consequences and trading costs

https://www.weeklyvoice.com/canada-india-pledge-to-promote-trade-ties/

TORONTO: Canada-India relations have never been as good they are right now, and it’s the right time to get into overdrive to enhance trade.

This was the consensus opinion of eminent speakers and panelists at the web program ‘Canada – India Trade by 2025 – Enabling Variety. Volume. Velocity.’ organized by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) on September 17.

Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade and Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Civil Aviation, and Housing and Urban Affairs were the main speakers at the program.

Following their interaction, the High Commissioners of Canada and India – Nadir Patel and Ajay Bisaria gave their perspective on enhancing bilateral trade. The program concluded with a scintillating panel discussion moderated by Ravi Seethapathy, former President of ICCC, an energy sector expert, and a corporate director; the panelists included Goldy Hyder, President, and CEO, Business Council of Canada; Vikram Khurana, Chair, Toronto Business Development Corporation; Mohit Singla, Chair, Trade Promotion Council of India; and Rupa Naik, Senior Director, Projects, World Trade Centre – Mumbai.

In her opening remarks, Minister Ng congratulated the ICCC for its tireless efforts to foster bilateral trade relations between Canada and India. “I laud the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce for the good work to promote trade and forge linkages in the small business sector in both Canada and India,” she said.

She emphasized that the overall ties between Canada and India have never been as good as they are at present. “I have had four meetings with Minister Piyush Goyal to discuss trade,” and a significant momentum has been built for cooperation.

Minister Ng said that while trade in traditional sectors such as pulp and paper and agri-food continues to grow, new sectors like clean energy, education, skills and training, urban infrastructure, and transportation are emerging quickly.

The Minister gave the example of an Ottawa-based company providing technical knowhow to Gujarat for low-cost wastewater treatment. Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry was originally slated to participate in the web program.

However, he was called to deal with an urgent matter in the Rajya Sabha, Indian Parliament’s Upper House, where he is the Deputy Leader.

In his place, Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Civil Aviation, and Housing and Urban Affairs, participated. Minister Puri provided a panoramic view of the bilateral trade ties between Canada.

“We draw great strength from people to people relations,” Minister Puri said.

Minister Puri said the ICCC theme – ‘Canada – India Trade by 2025: Enabling Variety. Volume. Velocity’ – for the web program captured the entire scope of bilateral trade. He said India has pushed through significant economic reforms and liberalized investment norms in several key sectors such as pharmaceuticals and defense during the pandemic.

Record growth Nadir Patel, Canada’s High Commissioner to India, said the progress in Canada – India relations and especially in bilateral trade has been remarkable.

“We have to celebrate our successes and see where we have come from and where we have reached. Trade has hit a record each year of the last five years. The momentum was strong in 2020. The base we have built gives us strength.”

Ajay Bisaria, India’s High Commissioner to Canada, congratulated ICCC for organizing the program. Talking about the upward trajectory in bilateral trade and investments between the two countries, Mr. Bisaria said the present trends indicate that portfolio investment from Canada into India would reach $100 billion in the next five years.

Bisaria said the immediate opportunity to significantly enhance bilateral ties was in manufacturing the Covid-19 vaccine.

“India has the capacity to become the world’s pharma base to produce the Covid-19 vaccine.” India is not just a pharmacy of the world, but also a vaccine manufacturer of the world with the capacity to manufacture over a billion doses. Following the speeches, Ravi Seethapathy, the former President of ICCC, moderated a panel discussion.

World Trade Centre – Mumbai’s Senior Director for Projects Rupa Naik, who was participating from Mumbai, India, said: “There is a dire need to enhance trade between the two nations and gain from our complementarities and competitive advantages.

The US and the EU recently struck a deal for reducing tariffs on certain products to improve market access between the two countries. India too should enter into such agreements to gain from trade.”

Toronto Business Development Corporation’s Chair Vikram Khurana emphasized the significance of enhanced investments from Canadian institutional investors – chiefly the pension funds – into India in recent times.

“Only in the last six months, during the height of the pandemic, Canadian pension funds have invested $5.5 billion in India.”

He added that companies such as Ivanhoe Cambridge are devising innovative investment tools that will transform investments in the real estate sector and enhance Canadian exposure in India in that sector.

Mr. Khurana said Canadian small business will also be positively impacted by this development because it will have the stardust effect, where small businesses follow big businesses into a new market.

Trade Promotion Council of India’s Chair, Mohit Singla pointed out that the untapped potential to enhance trade between Canada and India will materialize into exponential growth when trade and services are diversified.

Trade statistics have shown impressive growth in recent years. Business Council of Canada’s President and CEO, Goldy Hyder emphasized the need for trade agreements between Canada and India.

It is important for both the Canadian and the Indian establishments to sign the long-pending trade and investment agreements, Mr. Hyder said. He also said that such forums tend to emphasize investments in India, but Indian investments into Canada also MEDIA KIT have tremendous scope.

President's View

Pramod Goyal

Enhancing bilateral trade

Last week, I had the honour of moderating a discussion between Hon. Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade and Hon. Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Commerce & Industry, Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Affairs. Your Chamber organised this dialogue between the two ministers on enhancing Canada – India trade.

Earlier this month, the Executive Team of the ICCC met His Excellency Ajay Bisaria, the High Commissioner of India in Canada. During the meeting, he emphasized the significance of transforming the bilateral relations between our two democracies.

We informed the High Commissioner of the three initiatives that ICCC has undertaken to achieve the common objective of enhancing trade. These include:

• The Ministerial dialogue, which occurred last week, and there will be iterations in the future.
  
  
• Province-State Cooperation: Our Chamber will facilitate a dialog between Canadian provinces and Indian states to explore collaboration. The first such session is expected next month and will bring together Ontario and Uttar Pradesh.
  
  
• Small Business Cooperation: Our Chamber will also be collaborating with the SME Chamber of India to bring small businesses from Canada and India on a common platform to explore, investment possibilities and joint ventures collaborations.

Read more: Enhancing bilateral trade

Programs & Events

ICCC's Leaders Talk Web Series 

Hon. Mary Ng & Hon. Hardeep Singh Puri

Canada – India relations have never been as good they are right now, and it’s the right time to get into an overdrive to enhance trade. This was the consensus opinion of all the eminent speakers and panelists at the web program ‘Canada – India Trade by 2025 – Enabling Variety. Volume. Velocity.’ organised by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) Thursday 17 September.

Hon. Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion, and International Trade and Hon. Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Civil Aviation, and Housing and Urban Affairs were the main speakers at the program. Following their interaction, the High Commissioners of Canada and India – Nadir Patel and Ajay Bisaria gave their perspective on enhancing bilateral trade.

The program concluded with a scintillating panel discussion moderated by Ravi Seethapathy, former President of ICCC, an energy sector expert, and a corporate director; the panelists included Goldy Hyder, President and CEO, Business Council of Canada; Vikram Khurana, Chair, Toronto Business Development Corporation; Mohit Singla, Chair, Trade Promotion Council of India; and Rupa Naik, Senior Director, Projects, World Trade Centre – Mumbai.

Minister Hon. Mary Ng

In her opening remarks, Minister Ng congratulated the ICCC for its tireless efforts to foster bilateral trade relations between Canada and India. “I laud the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce for the good work that it continues to do to promote trade and forge linkages in the small business sector in both Canada and India,” she said.

She emphasized that the overall ties between Canada and India have never been as good as they are at present. The two Prime Ministers have had several interactions, the foreign ministers have met and discussed issues of significance for both the countries. “I have had four meetings with Minister Piyush Goyal to discuss trade,” and a significant momentum has been built for cooperation.

Minister Ng said that while trade in traditional sectors such as pulp and paper and agri-food continues to grow, new sectors that have tremendous promise for the future are rising fast. These include clean energy, education, skills and training, urban infrastructure, and transportation. The Minister gave the example of an Ottawa-based company providing technical knowhow to Gujarat for low cost wastewater treatment.

Minister Hon. Hardeep Singh Puri

Hon. Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce and Industry was originally slated to participate in the web program. However, he was called to deal with an urgent matter in the Rajya Sabha, Indian Parliament’s Upper House, where he is the Deputy Leader.

In his place, Hon. Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Civil Aviation, and Housing and Urban Affairs, participated. A career diplomat prior to entering public life, Minister Puri provided a panoramic view of the bilateral trade ties between Canada and India, and emphasized that there is a commitment on both sides to create and sustain an environment that is conducive for better trade. “We draw great strength from people to people relations,” Minister Puri said.

He said India has pushed through significant economic reforms and liberalised investment norms in several key sectors such as pharmaceuticals and defence during the pandemic.

Read more and watch video: Talking Trade

In the News

Mission Karmayogi

Mission Karmayogi to radically improve the Human Resource management in the Government says PM

Says iGOT platform will enable the transition to a role-based HR management & continuous learning

India’s Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions informed the Indian Parliament that the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (‘NPCSCB’) – “Mission Karmayogi” has been launched with the objective of enhancing governance through Civil Service Capacity Building.Mission Karmayogi will have the following six pillars:-

1.        Policy Framework
2.        Institutional Framework
3.        Competency Framework
4.        Digital Learning Framework (Integrated Government Online Training Karmayogi Platform (iGOT-Karmayogi)
5.        Electronic Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS)
6.        Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

Read more: In the News

ICCC President Pramod Goyal appointed on
SME Chamber of India's Advisory Board

Pramod Goyal, BS, MBA, PFP, President, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce has been appointed as an Overseas Board Member to the SME Chamber of India National Advisory Board for a three-year-term (2020-2023). He has also been appointed as the Vice President of India-Canada SME Business Council, a new venture of the SME Chamber of India. 

SME Chamber of India is a MoU Partner of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce. It is a Mumbai-based premier national Chamber that has been working for the development of SMEs from manufacturing, service sectors and allied industrial / business sectors for the last 26 years. The Chamber integrates SMEs, large corporates, MNCs, banks, investors, policy makers, Young & Women entrepreneurs and Start–Ups to establish and enhance contacts for better business growth and expansion. 

ICCC Leaders on RBC Top 25
Canadian Immigrant Award list 

Shanthi Johnson	Kanwar Dhanjal

Dr. Shanthi Johnson, ICCC's Advisory Board Member and Kanwar Dhanjal, former President, ICCC, are on the 2020 RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award list.

They join an illustrative list of ICCC leaders who have been similarly honoured with this recognition in the past years. The ICCC leaders who have won this award in the past are:

2010: Aditya Jha (Advisory Board Member 2019 onward)

2010: Asha Seth (Advisory Board Member 2010-11)

2012: Satish Thakkar (President, 2011-12)

2013: Gini Sethi (Board Member 2015-16)

2013: Steve Gupta (Advisory Board Member 2012-13)

2014: Naval Bajaj (President 2012-14)

2015: Bob Dhillon (Advisory Board Member 2013-16)

2017: Kuldeep Sharma (Advisory Board member 2017-18)

2018: Kundan Joshi (Board Member 2008-2011)

Read more: In the News

Appointment

Sonia Ojha
Senior Manager, Corporate Relations & Partnerships
Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce

Sonia Ojha has joined Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce as Senior Manager, Corporate Relations and Partnerships. An engaging and highly motivated professional with exceptional communication skills, Sonia has had an illustrious career in managing corporate relations. Prior to joining the ICCC, she was the Manager, Executive Corporate Relations, at the Mississauga Board of Trade for 12 years.

At the ICCC, Sonia will be responsible for business development, corporate membership augmentation, and developing and maintaining ICCC’s relations with Greater Toronto Area municipalities.

Insight

Financing India's Innovation

By Chandrajit Banerjee

India has embarked on a journey towards creating an enabling environment by putting in place an ecosystem that breeds innovation. The Government of India has launched several significant initiatives for propelling innovation, such as the Start-up India initiative, Accelerating Growth of New India’s Innovations (AGNIi), Atal Tinkering Labs, new intellectual property rights (IPR) policy, Smart City Mission, Uchchatar Avishkaar Yojana, etc. All these initiatives, coupled with phenomenal research and innovation from the institutions, industry, and society, are cementing India’s position as an innovation and knowledge hub. However, the financial dimension plays a critical role in fructifying these innovation efforts.

Various fiscal incentives are offered by the Government of India’s Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) for R&D activities performed by institutions, academia, and industry for supporting, nurturing, and leading their innovations towards fruition. Technology Development Board (TDB), an important stakeholder in the Indian innovation ecosystem, provides soft loans and promotes the equity of Indian industry through the development and commercialization of indigenous technology and by adapting imported technology for domestic applications.

Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) supports high-risk, early starters from academia, start-ups, or incubators that have exciting ideas in the nascent or planning stage. In India, there has been phenomenal growth of the private and foreign-owned private equity/venture capital (PE/VC) industry. The government has also played an important role in establishing and nurturing the industry segment by various fiscal concessions.

Read more: Insight